Award-winning business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us on an exciting journey of scientific discoveries and explains the importance of creating habits. Unless you are one of the 1% of the population who never puts off tasks when they should not, there are great procrastination books that will help give you to the tools to accomplish many tasks without procrastination.

Small measures of progress help to maintain momentum over the long-run, which means you’re more likely to finish large tasks. The book is divided into three sections: “What Is Procrastination?”, “How to Use Procrastination to Your Advantage”, and “When Procrastination Goes Wrong”. Visual cues can have an additive effect on motivation. As the visual evidence of your progress mounts, it is natural to become more motivated to continue the habit. The more visual progress you see, the more motivated you will become to finish the task. There are a variety of popular behavioral economics studies that refer to this as the Endowed Progress Effect. Seeing your previous progress is a great way to trigger your next productive action. To overcome procrastination time management techniques and tools are indispensable, but they are not enough by themselves. And, not all methods of managing time are equally helpful in dealing with procrastination. There are some time management techniques that are well suited to overcoming procrastination and others that can make it worse. Those that reduce anxiety and fear and emphasize the satisfaction and rewards of completing tasks work best. Those that arc inflexible, emphasize the magnitude of tasks and increase anxiety can actually increase procrastination and are thus counter-productive. For instance, making a huge list of "things to do" or scheduling every minute of your day may INCREASE your stress and thus procrastination. Instead, set reasonable goals (e.g. a manageable list of things to do), break big tasks down, and give yourself flexibility and allot time to things you enjoy as rewards for work completed. Motivation: Finding Productive Reasons for Engaging in Tasks So in a way, his focus is on the other side of productivity that is often overlooked: relaxation and peace of mind. 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management by Kevin Kruse

Any Books Missing?

There are many ways to force you to pay the costs of procrastination sooner rather than later. For example, if you are exercising alone, skipping your workout next week won’t impact your life much at all. Your health won’t deteriorate immediately because you missed that one workout. The cost of procrastinating on exercise only becomes painful after weeks and months of lazy behavior. However, if you commit to working out with a friend at 7 a.m. next Monday, then the cost of skipping your workout becomes more immediate. Miss this one workout and you look like a jerk. He provides examples of how each strategy can be used to overcome common challenges such as stress, distractions, and overwhelm. The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play by Dr. Neil Fiore The second section focuses on changing your behavior. Fiore offers techniques for setting goals, planning, and managing time. It's a fresh and bold perspective on why we fail to do what we set out to do or make the life-enhancing changes we genuinely intend to make.

Steel P. The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure. Psychol Bull. 2007;133(1):65-94. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.65Students, professors, secretaries, entrepreneurs, homemakers, and salespeople all strive for success. This struggle requires hard work, self-discipline, self-control, and time management.

We recommend this book, because the toolkit mentioned is easy to work with and developed by 20 creative people that are all experts on the subject of how to manage your day in the workplace. Master Your Focus: A Practical Guide to Stop Chasing the Next Thing and Focus on What Matters Until It’s Done (Mastery Series) Goals – Focus on what you want to do, not what you want to avoid. Think about the productive reasons for doing a task by setting positive, concrete, meaningful learning and achievement goals for yourself. Many people have tried to formulate an internal methodology and procedural system to overcome procrastination. Most have failed, and for one important reason: their practices had little to do with the challenges of everyday life. Ferrari, J. R., J. L. Johnson, and W. G. McCown. 1995. Procrastination and task avoidance: Theory, research, and treatment. New York: Plenum. In this book, the editors have collected interventions and ideas for dealing with student procrastinators. The covered interventions range from those focusing on cognitive restructuring techniques to those suggesting different forms of self-management training.

Prem R, Scheel TE, Weigelt O, Hoffmann K, Korunka C. Procrastination in daily working life: A diary study on within-person processes that link work characteristics to workplace procrastination. Front Psychol. 2018;9:1087. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01087 We all have self-destructive habits and behaviors. Breaking free of them is sometimes more challenging than it sounds. This book was crucial in helping me overcome procrastination for two reasons. First, it released a lot of guilt I was carrying around with me. Second, it helped me move from self-criticism to self-compassion. The Procrastination Cure: 21 Proven Tactics For Conquering Your Inner Procrastinator, Mastering Your Time, And Boosting Your Productivity! by Damon Zahariades